Rochester, NY – The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) has confirmed its remaining conductor replacements for the current 2012–13 season.

As announced earlier this month, Eastman School of Music Professor of Conducting and Ensembles Neil Varon will conduct the revised Exquisite Pucciniprogram on Thursday, February 28 (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday, March 2 (8 p.m.) in Kodak Hall. That program will also feature vocal soloists, Minnesota soprano Karin Wolverton (karinwolverton.com) and Syracuse tenor, Dinyar Vania (dinyarvania.com). Joining Varon in conducting the 2 p.m. Music from Italy matinee on Sunday, March 3 at the Performance Hall at Hochstein will be two RPO Conducting Fellows, Jerry Hou and Chaowen Ting.

Conducting the Beethoven’s “Eroica” program at Kodak Hall on Thursday, April 18 (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday, April 20 (8 p.m.) will be Minnesota Orchestra Associate Conductor Courtney Lewis (opus3artists.com/artists/courtney-lewis). The young, Belfast-born founder and music director of Boston’s acclaimed Discovery Ensemble is quickly becoming recognized as one of today’s top emerging talents. Lewis will also conduct Beethoven and the Making of Genius on Sunday, March 21 (2 p.m.) at Hochstein Performance Hall.

Popular former RPO conductor Peter Bay (austinsymphony.org/about/conductor), currently in his 13th season as Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphony and his 20th (and final) as Music Director of the Britt Festival Orchestra in Jacksonville, Oregon, is the perfect choice to conduct Spring Festival: NEXUS and the RPO on Thursday, May 9 (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday, May 11 (8 p.m.) in Kodak Hall. His CD, Voices, features the NEXUS percussion ensemble as well as the RPO. That program has been revised slightly as well, retaining Takemitsu’s From Me Flows What You Call Time (with NEXUS), Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps, and the world premiere of Karen Tanaka’s Water of Life, which was commissioned by the RPO. Replacing excerpts from Bizet’s Carmen will be two Ravel pieces: Menuet antique and Le Tombeau de Couperin.

Closing out the RPO’s 90th anniversary season is Spring Festival: Rite of Spring: 100 Years on Thursday, May 30 (7:30 p.m.) and Saturday, June 1 (8 p.m.) in Kodak Hall with conductor and violinist, Tito Muñoz (titomunoz.com). Recently appointed Music Director of the Opéra National de Lorraine and the Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy, his first complete season began with productions of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, The Rite of Spring and Les Noces. He previously served a three-year tenure as Assistant Conductor of The Cleveland Orchestra.

“Special thanks go to our creative and highly experienced Vice President of Artistic Administration, Richard Decker,” says RPO President and CEO Charles Owens. “Working in close collaboration with the musicians on our Artistic Advisory Committee and the guest conductors, Dick has gently reshaped the final programs of this season in a way that will be exhilarating for our patrons and energizing for our musicians. We can all be comforted by the fact that artistic planning at the RPO is in extremely capable and talented hands.”

Tickets for remaining RPO 2012–13 season concerts range from $10 to $82, and are available in person at the Eastman Theatre Box Office (433 East Main Street) or at area Wegmans; by phone at (585) 454-2100; or online at rpo.org. $10 student tickets are available for all remaining 2012–13 concerts at rpo.org/students.

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra has been committed to enriching and inspiring our community through the art of music since its founding in 1922. The RPO presents up to 150 concerts a year, serving nearly 200,000 people through ticketed events, education and community engagement activities, and concerts in schools and community centers throughout the region. Notable former music directors include Eugene Goossens, José Iturbi, Erich Leinsdorf, David Zinman, and Conductor Laureate Christopher Seaman; Principal Pops Conductor Jeff Tyzik has earned a national reputation for excellence in pops programming during his 19-year tenure with the RPO. With Michael Butterman as Principal Conductor for Education and Outreach (The Louise and Henry Epstein Family Chair) – the first position of its kind in the country – the RPO reaches 14,000 children through its specific programs for school-aged children.

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